The Coup that is the Libertadores

When Konami announced back in April that the Copa Libertadores would be featuring in PES2011 it was probably the first ‘hard’ news we got about this years offering. However, like so many things regarding the PES franchise, there was an element of doubt present regards such an acquisition. Doubts that have been quelled somewhat if the latest trailer is anything to go by.

After the jump we dig a little deeper into PES2011’s new signing.

It wasn’t that the fan base were against the idea of PES featuring South America’s premier club competition, it was more so that they were unsure of how expansive the use of the license would be. The PES franchise has always had it’s struggles when it comes to licensing and even though a tremendously strong and willing editing community are more than happy to right the wrongs in this department, it is nice if the some of the work is done for them by the development team.

After the most recent trailer and other assets hit however, the community was given some reason to rejoice as we finally seemed to get an idea of how authentic the Copa Libertadores’ inclusion would be in PES2011. As the trailer closed with the already familiar slow motion footage showing the cup itself along with four clubs that appeared to be officially licensed, all to the sounds of Beethoven’s wonderful ode to joy (a great choice of track it has to be said!), we were then greeted with a swathe of club crests that scrolled over the existing footage. Forum member Johnson was quick off the mark in identifying the club crests present :

By looking at the teams in the tunnels, and the badges of clubs that appear on screen in the Copa Libertadores part, here is the full list of the licensed clubs in the trailer:

An impressive list which suggests Konami are taking the license seriously. Yes, there seems to be a few clubs missing from the 32 that would play in the group stages but as we all know licenses are always being negotiated right till the death. It is also worth noting that if previous years are anything to go by, then Boca Juniors and River Plate will feature in the game as well.

The other positive upshot of all this is that no only do we get more licensed teams to play and in a new game mode but that we will also see the player roster swell pretty heftily too which should add a little more to the Master League component of the game as well. Mirroring real life to a degree, we will be able to scour the Americas for emerging talent in order to strengthen our Master League teams! Then we have the possibility that yet another trophy can be claimed in Master League too if the WEP team implement a World Club-esque championship into the fold as well. PES2010 had the Konami cup after all, so perhaps this might be expanded a little more for PES2011.

All in all it is difficult not to get excited by the prospect of South America’s premier club competition making it over to the game. It is, as mentioned in the title of this piece, a major coup Konami acquiring the Libertadores license.

Alan Curdie is Senior Editor at WENB and a massive fan of the PES series, gaming and of course football in general. His first exposure to video games was back in the Atari 2600 era. Fair to say things have progressed somewhat since then, and it would also be fair to say that he hasn't.